


You Must Really Love Me

by city_bright



Category: The Mindy Project
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:14:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24247075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/city_bright/pseuds/city_bright
Summary: A little bit sad, a little bit angsty (but don't let that scare you haha), and a little hopeful - a short fic of Danny's thoughts/rationalizations after a fight with Mindy. Set some time in s3.
Relationships: Danny Castellano/Mindy Lahiri
Kudos: 13





	You Must Really Love Me

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this about a year ago, and it's inspired by SZA's Garden (Say It Like Dat). There's a couple of lyrics in the song that I felt matched s2 thru s4 Mindy x Danny angst, so this fic (and title because I'm the worst at titles and song lyrics are always the way to go for me haha) is the result of that.

You fight over the little things, and you fight over the big things, but this time around, you’re certain you pushed her too far that you wouldn’t be all too surprised if you walked into your apartment with all of her stuff gone. But you walk through the door, and she’s there, waiting for you to come home, and you breathe a sigh of relief that you’ve managed to keep the fucking up to a minimum this time.

You make yet another mental note not to push her away anymore, and you should probably consult the mental list a bit more often. You wonder why you never take your advice because one day you may really make a mess of things and you won’t be able to take it back, and she won't be there anymore. But she’s here like she always has, and you’re safe for now. It shouldn’t be this precarious all the time.

You try not to make your relationship more difficult than it has to be, and you have a feeling you make it painful for her to love you sometimes, and it's not fair to her, but it seems to be the default setting: to trust her, but not all the time; to push her away and quickly pull her back in because you need her; to allow yourself to be vulnerable around her, but retreat because you fear that if you reveal too much, then she'll find out who you really are and stop loving you. Or worse, start to hate you. You sigh because guilt eventually always rams its way inside, but you’re working on it. She’s nothing like Christina or even your father, your past isn't her problem to fix, and you aren’t the same person you were 5 years ago.

Despite it all, she pulls you into her arms as if she was the one who was in the wrong, and you hold onto her tightly, feeling one of the many mismatched puzzle pieces of your psyche be placed in its rightful spot. You feel a little bit more put together than you were before and hope it’s enough. She takes your face in her soft hands and tells you she loves you. Her love is overwhelming, and you feel like you’re drowning and in over your fucking head, and you want to run and hide. But it's reassuring because you often need a reminder that you are not as bad of a person as you think you are. 

You love her too. You love her just as she is with every fiber of your being. You never want her to change, for all selfish reasons, you will admit. She has a way about her that grounds you because you’re somehow always above the clouds and in your own head, spiraling out of emotional control to some degree. She pulls you down and reins you in, and you promise to do better next time because her heart is not just her own anymore. It’s yours too, and she must really love you to entrust you with it, so you will do your best to fight for it as much as she fights for yours, and you hope you get it right.


End file.
